Maid Right 101: Cleaning & Staging Before Selling Can Earn Homeowners $$$
Real estate experts suggest that much of the success in selling homes comes from preparation – and from choosing the right time to strike the market.
USA Today suggests spending less time predicting market trends and more timing prepping your home. Homeowners should spend time decluttering, cleaning, landscaping, and touching up their homes to make it move-in ready instead of scouring the housing market or looking to the stars for hints that the time is right to sell.
What is “staging”?
Prepping a home before putting it on the real estate market is also known as “staging”. When a home is “staged”, homeowners create an environment in which the potential homebuyer can easily picture. By bridging this imagination gap, houses stay fresh in the minds of potential homebuyers as they trudge from one open house to the next. Having a home be “move-in ready” sets you homeowners for success.
According to the National Association of Realtors, 95% of homes that are staged sell, on average, in 35 days or less, even in slow markets. This remarkable figure demonstrates the importance of creating an environment where homeowners can see themselves and their families.
How should a home be staged?
“Staging a home” can mean a broad range of actions. On the extreme, staging a home can mean moving everything out and replacing it with rented, neutral furniture, creating a luxurious environment that can be quickly removed and returned to the rental store once the home is bought. On the other end of the spectrum, staging a home can be as simple as removing clutter, family photos, and re-painting the front door.
These are six crucial steps to take when staging a home.
#1. Declutter & professionally clean the home
Selling a house quickly necessitates a deep clean and decluttering. The Maid Right deep-cleaning service for moving out makes sure that homes look as good as new and that all the details a homeowner may overlook – like appliances and baseboards – are ready to be inspected by troops of cautious homebuyers. A typical move-in cleaning includes:
- Vacuum and mop floors
- Wipe down baseboards
- Dust all surfaces and fixtures
- Clean kitchen appliances inside and out
- Wipe cabinets inside and out
- Clean sinks and countertops
- Clean toilets
- Clean showers and bathtubs
- Disinfect with Enviro-Mist®
#2: Remove sentimental items
Personal items like framed family pictures should be put into storage or packed. These things can prevent potential homebuyers from seeing themselves in the home. Homeowners should remove most of the sentimental items like kids’ artwork, family portraits, and any collectibles that could be cluttering the home.
#3: Pretend to be a hotel
This may seem kind of silly but trust us: sticking with the all-white towel, dish, and soap dispenser scheme really works. Swapping out dishes and towels for new white ones is not only extremely affordable but also very effective. The white uniform dishes and towels look clean and bright and make the spaces, like the kitchen and bathrooms, inviting and, we cannot stress this enough, super clean.
#4: Opt for neutral colors…except for your front door
While we love dramatic colors just as much as the next person, take the time to invest in a new, neutral color scheme in the major rooms in your home. In particular, small spaces that have been painted different colors should be repainted the same color as the rest of the house to help draw them into the bigger spaces and make the rooms appear larger. This rule holds firm EXCEPT for the front door and the bathroom. According to Zillow, homes with black front doors and periwinkle blue bathrooms can sell for up to $6,000 above market price.
#5: Make the smell be a reminder of home
This is an age-old realtor trick: before the home is shown, sprinkle cinnamon on a baking sheet and pop it in the oven. The delicious smell of baking will spread through the home and make it feel cozier in an instant. Smell is the strongest memory so associating the home with a pleasant smell will also make a big impression on potential buyers.
#6: Rent furniture
And, if the house is empty, opt to rent furniture. It is much harder for buyers to imagine an empty house as their own – renting a dining room table, some couches and even beds can pay off big time. Don’t forget the linens to make everything feel comfortable and welcoming!
Preparing your home to put your home on the market is a major undertaking but having everything prepared can literally pay off in thousands of dollars.
Maid Right’s specialized cleaning services offer wrap-around services for homeowners: from moving day to the everyday messes. The franchise model offers endless opportunities for entrepreneurs to create thriving local businesses that homeowners rely on.
Call today to corner your portion of the home cleaning market today.